Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners Another Newbie that needs a little advice...

I posted this on the SPOT and I thought I would post it on here in hopes of getting some addtional feedback.
My wife and I are completely replacing our home theater. We have just succcessfully sold off our entire polk speaker setup, upgraded our TV from a 32" to a Hit 57T500, and now we were looking for a new speaker setup. We were about 48 hours away from spending about 2500.00 on a setup from Paradgim when I was refered to this website because of the excellent service and quality of products they offer. If the quality of products is anything like the quality of the customer service they offer, then I am going to be ordering next week. I emailed there customer service yesterday, and within TWO HOURS THEY RESPONDED BACK TO ME. SIMPLY AWESOME! This is the system that my wife thinks we should get and I will be honest, I don't disagree with her about it! LOL

m80Ti
vp150
4-QS8

The comparable system from paradigm, with discount, is still over 600.00 more.

Now, If I go with the 80 instead of the 60, we want a recomendation on a new reciever to go with it. I have had several people tell me that the Denon 3803 will do the job great. We currently have an Onkyo TXDS989 and are trying to sell it because we are not that happy with it.

So, if you can help us out with any suggestions or comments on the speakers or reciever would be great.

Thank you
Jeff
Cincinnati, OH

my personal opinion is to get a good sub instead of the last 2 QS8s. a good sub can run you 400-1000 bucks and if you can afford both, (4 qs8s and a sub) go for it. its not that the m80 wont be awsome in the bass category, but IMO a sub is what makes Home Theater different from the movie theater.
i have heard good things about the 3083. but when i listened to it at my local tweeter, i was not impressed. it wasnt too detailed. maybe it was the store setup. i am unsure. i can personally recomend the yamaha 1400/2400 and the HK reciever series. the yamaha sounded much better in the same store then the 3083 did. i reccomend the yammy 2400 and the HK 7200 and 630 since it seems you want to run 7 channels. the 7200 is the current flagship from HK, but it is last years model so it has reduced in price.

what size is your room?

Welcome, Coach Jeff. Your list looks good, but unless your listening room is very large I think that you could consider the M60s instead, and possibly spend about $400-$500 on a good sub. The QS8s are excellent and quite a few use them all-around, but you might find that QS8 side surrounds give enough broadly dispersed sound and that the more direct effect of M2s in back would improve the overall effect.

So far as a new receiver, my view is that you should give strong consideration to one of them which has automatic room and speaker equalization, in particular the Yamaha 2400.

Jeff, there are so many excellent recievers on the market today and they will all deleiver excellent sound. I've had recievers by Denon, Pioneer, and currently Yamaha and they all "sounded" fine.

With recievers today all having great sound, the deal breaker is in the feature set. As of right now, the Yamaha RX-V 1400/2400 is one of the (if not the) most feature rich recievers in the sub $1500 price range.

As a side note, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) will be happening on Jan 8. There may be some new reciever introductions and it might be worth waiting to see whats new.

Thanks for all the input. I should have listed some more information on my orginal post. My room size is 17 x 11 and I currently have a 15 inch Velodyne sub. I think the model number is CT-150. I guess everybody loves the Yamaha receivers. The only thing is, I have no idea who sells Yamaha in the Cincinnati/Indianapolis area. Also, does anybody in the Indianapolis area have a set of Axiom speakers they would be willing to demo for me. I have somebody down in Louisville that is willign to do it for me, but I am frequently in Indianapolis area.
Thanks

Glad to see that you made it over here. There is one authorized Yamaha dealer in cincy...

http://www.yamaha.com/cgi-win/yecdlr.exe?OH1Cincinnati

You will get good advice here.

Mark

I live in Akron, Ohio, would be more than happy to let you hear my system if interested. I have a 20x12 room with a Yamaha RXV1400, M60s, Vp150 and QS8s. (Hsu VTF2 sub) I wouldn't change a thing! I too seriously considered the Paradigm. (Studio 100s) I am very happy with my decision to go Axiom. Again, I don't know if my location is close enough for you. PM me or reply back here if interested. I check in often. I really enjoy this forum. Signed, Desprate Browns fan!

Your room isn't all that large. I'd hop down a notch to the M60's for your mains. I'd also start off with 5.1 and see how wow'd you are by that. The QS8's are awesome surround speakers. You may not feel the need for the extra two channels in the rear.

Those two changes will save you $770. Without a doubt, put that into a Hsu VTF-3 or STF-3 subwoofer.

You'll never leave your HT.

ya
go for the m60 and if you really want 7.1 buy some m2s. from reading around it seems the last 2 channels are not used extensively in DTS or Dolby DVDs.

i would look online for a yamaha 1400/2400. the 1400 can run about 800 bucks if you get a really good deal. i am not sure if those deals are still available(this was before christmas), but check around on the internet. I also suggest you look at last years models and try to buy them online. i bought my hk 525 for 500 bucks on ebay straight from the factory

do some research on the models reccomended, listen to them in store(if possible) and then try to buy them online

also, a very good feature to have is upconversion. sadly, my hk does not have upconversion, but i have my xbox, N64 and DVD player but my tv has only one input.
the yamahas offer upconversion. so do denons and i think pioneers

upconversion is where you only have to have 1 output from the reciever to the TV for the dvd, xbox, VCR etc. with my hk, i would have to have a video RCA cable for each input i have.

I got my 1400 for $588. shipped from Etronics.com before Christmas. I've actually seen it for a little less since then not incl. shipping.

Just thought I should mentioned,
yamaha rates it as 7x120
tests results, all into 8ohms at .1%
2 x 102.9
5 x 43.5
7 x 32.3

3803 will give more than 90Watt per channel when running a 5 speakers setup. 2400/1400 is a feature rich receiver if you don't mind the relatively little real power.
The main feature that other receiver missed is YPAO which can be accomplished by a Radio Shack SPL meter and a calibration DVD.


http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htforum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=171344&highlight=Yamaha+2400+wattage

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htforum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=164109&highlight=Yamaha+2400+wattage

IF true, I suppose that is a shame. BUT, it sure does sound good to me! With that, I am still completely satisfied.

Jeepers! Those guys over there are running around like a bunch of hysterical chickens with thier heads cut off. Those test results are not real world situations and the review of the 2400 at Audioholics tells a different story.

In reply to:

---

The main feature that other receiver missed is YPAO which can be accomplished by a Radio Shack SPL meter and a calibration DV.

---

WRONG! you can't do parametric eq with just a SPL meter and a "calibration DVD". Where on earth did you get that notion?

Immediate followup to that post.

If you don't have a receiver with MCACC or YPAO, is there any equipment that will give you parametric equalization? Is it cost effective? I'm actually more interested in equalizing my sub (since when I did the test tones thing, it was all over the map.)

These are just a few:

Z-Systems is considered the best but at a hefty price. Around $5000.
http://www.zsys.com/cp_rdq6m.html

The SOS is for bass only. It looks pretty interesting and it's relatively inexpensive at $300 but it is very limited in what it can do.
http://www.speakercity.com/Sos/SubwooferOptimizer.shtml

The Behringer products are designed for pro audio but can be used in home audio. Set up seems very complicated but can be bought for less than $200.
http://www.behringer.com/02_products/prodindex.cfm?id=DSP8024&lang=eng

I see why the Beringer is comparatively inexpensive-2 channel only. Boy, that looks confusing... I assume one of these devices would have to be used between the preamp and amp stages of a receiver.

Or between the digital out of the source and the analog inputs of a reciever.

supposedly they are very confusing. the few EQ threads i have ventured into have been way over my head. the recommend option was to hire a professional along with the EQ you buy.

Heh. Screw that. I think I will settle (for the time being) for the (significant) improvement that M22s will bring to my system.

so you're not going to get the m60s?

It's still a few months before I get anything. It would be many more months before I would get M60s. Also, (for some reason) their WAF is low around here. They're "too narrow!" (?!)

huh!!!
did you tell her audio is a hobby of yours?
or does she not know this?
the m0s are beefier then the m22s. they sound better too:)
but you know this.

women...what can i say....

i apologize to all women for the previous comment:)

She's aware of this. I am, however, willing to compromise. When you live in a 900 sq foot apartment with someone, you have to be accomodating. Also, when it's someone you intend to spend the rest of your life with, you have to be accomodating. I won't let her get another cat; she won't let me get large speakers.

I also don't think that the M60s are necessary in my situation.

You might also consider the Pioneer Elite 55Txi. It has a comparable feature set to the Yamaha but is a bit more expensive. Sushi (a resident guru around here that's been missing for a while) had one and was very happy with it. It was the direction I planned on going in when I finally purchased.

Just offering an alternative if the power ratings "scandal" with the 1400/2400 is scaring you.

Here's a link:

Pioneer 55Txi

The Pioneer Elite 53TX is pretty much the same exact model but without the firewire input. It costs significantly less money. Especially from here.

fyi...The firewire connection is just a convenient way to connect a DVD-A/SACD player to your receiver. Without firewire you'd need six separate cables. Yes...that's a pain, and would cost you a bit more in cables, but is it really worth that much more?

I realize the msrp is only $200 more, but the best prices I've found for these models is $698 vs $1038...that's $340. You can get a really nice 6 channel interconnect from Blue Jeans Cable for $75. So even the $200 bump seems a bit much.

I'd actually be more inclined to go with the Pioneer, just because of the power thing. Of course, I don't know the stats on the Pioneer, either. Odd no one's been mentioing them lately...

Sushi, where are you?!

Yes, Sushi was my Pioneer guru...I sadly carry the torch alone these days while you Yamaha fiends rule the board.

-Nick

No, no, I'm an H/K fiend. Don't mix us up! :-D